- Rewilding according to the website Rewilding Europe is making Europe "or parts of it" a wilder place. One of the key points in this rewilding programme is according to them "the comeback of a number of iconic and keystone wildlife species" like the bison, taurus (Heck cattle), ponies (Konik or other), elk, wolf, bear, etc.
- Mark Bekoff says in this article Why humanity must rewild? “Conservationist Caroline Fraser noted in her book "Rewilding the World," that rewilding could be defined by three words: Cores, Corridors and Carnivores. Dave Foreman, director of the Rewilding Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a true visionary, sees rewilding as a conservation strategy based on three premises: "(1) healthy ecosystems need large carnivores, (2) large carnivores need big, wild roadless areas, and (3) most roadless areas are small and thus need to be linked." Conservation biologists and others who write about rewilding or work on rewilding projects see it as a large-scale process involving projects of different sizes that go beyond carnivores, such as the ambitious, courageous and forward-looking Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, well known as the Y2Y project. Of course, rewilding goes beyond carnivores, as it must” says Mark Bekoff. “The core words associated with large-scale rewilding projects are connection and connectivity, the establishment of links among geographical areas so that animals can roam as freely as possible with few if any disruptions to their movements. For this to happen ecosystems must be connected so that their integrity and wholeness are maintained or reestablished.”
- “Whereas much wilderness management as it is currently practiced seeks to somehow contain or suppress natural processes, or managing the environment for the benefit of a single species, what rewilding proposes really is letting nature re-find its own balance – in many ways letting the land turn feral, so that nature itself can work out what is best for it. Rewilding is about making a whole wilderness ecosystem truly wild – self-sustaining, abundant and diverse (which just happen to coincide with the aims of permaculture design). It is about creating a future in which humans and nature are equal parts of a global ecosystem, rather than separate and often antagonistic elements.” 5 reasons for rewilding
- And last but not least : The IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature describes different kinds of protected nature areas.
- Ia Strict nature reserve: Strictly protected for biodiversity and also possibly geological/ geomorphological features, where human visitation, use and impacts are controlled and limited to ensure protection of the conservation values
- Ib Wilderness area: Usually large unmodified or slightly modified areas, retaining their natural character and influence, without permanent or significant human habitation, protected and managed to preserve their natural condition
- II National park: Large natural or near-natural areas protecting large-scale ecological processes with characteristic species and ecosystems, which also have environmentally and culturally compatible spiritual, scientific, educational, recreational and visitor opportunities
- III Natural monument or feature: Areas set aside to protect a specific natural monument, which can be a landform, sea mount, marine cavern, geological feature such as a cave, or a living feature such as an ancient grove
- IV Habitat/species management area: Areas to protect particular species or habitats, where management reflects this priority. Many will need regular, active interventions to meet the needs of particular species or habitats, but this is not a requirement of the category
- V Protected landscape or seascape: Where the interaction of people and nature over time has produced a distinct character with significant ecological, biological, cultural and scenic value: and where safeguarding the integrity of this interaction is vital to protecting and sustaining the area and its associated nature conservation and other values
- VI Protected areas with sustainable use of natural resources: Areas which conserve ecosystems, together with associated cultural values and traditional natural resource management systems. Generally large, mainly in a natural condition, with a proportion under sustainable natural resource management and where low-level non-industrial natural resource use compatible with nature conservation is seen as one of the main aims
Other questions to be asked and to be studied in a larger context:
Why do we want to Rewild Europe? In this article 5 reasons are mentioned why we should rewild? The main reasons are for increasing biodiversity, for Self-Sustaining Systems, for the protection of certain species from extinction, and for human benefits (eco-tourism/to rewild ourselves and for commercial reasons as employment/exploitation) and rewilding for aesthetics, the beauty and enchantment it brings to the world.Rewilding could be included in a global
sustainable development agenda as a way to solve environmental issues as biodiversity
extinctions, impoverishment of soils because of intensive agriculture, or as a tool for climate
mitigation through carbon capture (Pereira & Navarro, 2015). The compromises of rewilding
The ethics of releasing domesticated animals in the wild
There is proof that Konik horses are not real descendants of the wild horse.
https://research.vu.nl/ws/portalfiles/portal/42132956
http://www.zoogdierwinkel.nl/sites/default/files/imce/nieuwesite/Winkel/pdf%20download/Lutra_57(2)_Van%20Vuure_2014.pdf
Ethical aspects of creating/maintaining biodiversity
Setting aside half the Earth for ‘rewilding’: the ethical dimension
In this view, we care about nature and biodiversity only because we care about ourselves. Nature is useful for us in the sense of resources and ecological services, but it has no value in and of itself. In ethics talk, people have intrinsic value while nature’s only value is what it can do for people – extrinsic value.
Ethical aspects of culling
In some cases human
perception of how wilderness looks can be different from the result of rewilding (Hall, 2014).
Especially when animals are used in rewilding projects, to serve as ecosystem engineers
delivering a suite of ecosystem services, the open-endedness of such experiments means that
the projects may not necessarily produce the desired outcome in the view of managers’. This,
in turn, can impact upon ethical or animal welfare issues where the wildlife is culled,
removed, relocated or otherwise interfered with (Jamieson, 2008; Von Essen & Allen, 2016),
as demonstrated in the English beaver case.
Ethical aspects of de-extinction
It is important to note that other interpretations exist in rewilding, indeed, some rewilding projects emphasize mainly passive management and self-management of nature without any or limited human intervention, when others focus on bringing back extinct species through sophisticated genetic reverse-engineering, like back-breeding, and de-extinction technologies in laboratories. These often try to approximate the Pleistocene baseline. These rewilding ideas have been popularised amongst others by Ted Talks (TedxDeExtinction, 2013; Ted Ed, 2014), and these extincted animals are usually megafauna. They are charismatic and iconic animals like the wooly mammuth. These kinds of projects have popularized the idea of rewilding for the mainstream public but have also made it controversial since it links rewilding with controversial practices of cloning for example. In rewilding exotic or extinct megafauna, public enthusiasm is particularly important since potential revived species are highly charismatic animals that are linked to our imagination of prehistoric times and our willingness to fund, endorse or otherwise visit such sites/projects. While the argument for de-extinction are several, like for restoring ecosystems, one of the biggest arguments is the wonder it creates, “The last benefit might be called “wonder,” or, more colloquially “coolness.” This may be the biggest attraction, and possibly the biggest benefit, of de-extinction. It would surely be very cool to see a living wooly mammoth.” (Sherkow & Greely, 2013, p. 33) The compromises of rewilding
Critics of de-extinction in the popular science media have quickly pointed out drawbacks. From an ethical perspective, they have pointed to potential violations of animal welfare standards, the potential drain on resources that could be used in the conservation of still-existing species, and the implication that species destruction might be seen as permissible if it is reversible.
Educating Ethics and animals
Giving the wrong exemple ...
Resistance from the local population
Ethics in wild life parks